My predictions have been wrong in terms of timing. Like others, I have been and continue to be surprised by the deliberate and plodding pace of the Russian advance. I ascribe this to Putin's aversion to battlefield casualties, and his realisation that the longer this conflict drags on, the more time he has to organise, strengthen and grow BRICS.

Still, they are advancing, and there still remains only one way that this conflict ends, and that is however Putin wants it to end.